Leadership for Sustainability in Higher Education Amidst the COVID-19 Crisis: Exploring Female Educational Leaders' Strategies for Transformation

Abstract

Through assisted thematic content analyses of 40 female educational leaders' interviews, the chapter investigates the crisis management and leadership practices which foster sustainable development in higher education from their perspective. Drawing on diversity, gender, and upper echelon theories, the authors propose that the addition of unique female perspectives and leadership styles will afford gender-diverse senior leadership teams (SLTs) a leadership capability advantage over equally talented yet homogeneous male teams. This link between gender diversity and leadership capability is more pronounced in times of crisis such as the current pandemic. The study suggests that increasing female representation in SLTs may have a substantial and direct impact on overall leadership capabilities and elicit positive performance effects in times of crisis. Notably, and unique to this study, they show that feminine traits and inclusive leadership styles may be more efficacious in contemporary leadership contexts than generally believed.

Key Terms in this Chapter

Sustainability: Ability to maintain or support a process continuously over time. In business and policy contexts, sustainability seeks to prevent the depletion of natural or physical resources, so that they will remain available for the long term.

Crisis Management: The process by which a business or other organization deals with a sudden emergency situation.

Leadership: The ability of an individual or a group of individuals to influence and guide followers or other members of an organization.